Essay Questions

Why do many actors choose to play both roles, switching characters during a production?

True West is known for seeing the lead actors playing the brothers switch roles during the run of the performance. The reason many choose to do this--including Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly--is that the transformation that happens is nearly a mirror of one character to the other. Austin becomes the violent aggressor while Lee goes from being dangerous and violent to being the one with a more civilized demeanor. Thus the actors playing the roles infuse this transformation into the interpretation that each character has a primal nature as well as a civilized one that must be seen during the play.

What is the meaning of the father and mother being largely left out of the play?

The father looms large over the play as we listen to the brothers speak of their relationship, or lack there of with the man. And the mother doesn't appear until the very end, and even then she runs out on them as they are fighting. The symbolism in this is that the parents have abandoned their sons leaving them to create their lives without the necessary guidance of their parents, and even when a parent comes into their lives they aren't there long enough--nor do they choose to stay long enough--to effect any change.

Why does Shepard write in that crickets and coyotes are heard outside of the home?

Shepard specifically uses the sounds of crickets during the play in order to drive Lee crazy. The seemingly inconsequential sound becomes the mind-boggling chatter that actually lies within the mind of Lee who is being driven mad by having to create a script for Saul. And, the coyotes represent the threat of wild closing in on this civilized town. Most importantly, it represents the primal nature of the two brothers coming out, in particular in Austin as we see him transform from a civilized family man into someone capable of killing his brother.